AYYY HELLO so I'm currently going through a major restructure/rewrite of this fic, since I wrote it as I was easing back into writing, it's pretty rusty! If this is your first time here, I suggest you not start reading yet. I will try to have it ready before January ends. That is my hope! Or uh, I guess you could just keep reading, but keep in mind this is a draft and lots of stuff's gonna change. :)

a/n: HELLO HELLO

So the plot of this one is heavily heavily influenced by a manga called Last Game by Amano Shinobu (where Rin's last name comes from). Please look it up, it's very cute. Although my story will be quite different...

Also. If you are not familiar with Harry Potter, you will have trouble understanding certain terms and concepts. If you have not read Harry Potter, I suggest you DO RIGHT NOW WHAT ARE YOU EVEN WAITING FOR. Although even if you don't want to read HP, please read my story anyway! I think you'll be okay.


chapter 1

strange


It was a normal first meeting that didn't leave the lingering impression of a fateful encounter.

The scene was the bustling train station during morning rush hour. It was the day of the train journey to Hogwarts, so the crowd was afloat with emotion. Len himself admitted to the awe gnawing at the tips of his fingers and toes; there was a big world out there, and it would be his as soon as he took that last step forward.

He helped his dad load his trunk onto the train. It was then that he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a girl his age, struggling to heave her own trunk onto the car. For some reason, she didn't have an adult's hand to help her. It was clearly too much weight for an eleven-year-old girl to handle. He internally disparaged the station guards who'd left her to struggle all by herself. He was better than them.

Len tapped the girl's shoulder. "Need a hand?"

Her startled eyes met his. The moment wasn't soft and nothing particular snapped into place. It was a normal first meeting. She studied him for an unclear moment before nodding. "Sure."

Together, they accomplished the feat. It was easy with the two of them.

"Thank you," the girl murmured. Her quiet voice was drowned in the crowd.

"No problem." He smiled. "Are you a first year?"

She nodded.

"Me too. I guess we'll be seeing each other then." He held out his hand. "I'm Len Kagamine."

She shook his hand with a slight grip. "Rin Amano."

"So, see you, Amano." Len waved and returned to his dad.


"You can't win all the time, but the fight you put up is impressive. It's strange. Why do you want to win so badly? Losing isn't as bad as you think."

"Accepting a loss means giving up on the things you were trying to protect. My pride would never let that happen."

"Ah, I see. It's nice to have something you love enough to protect, isn't it?"

"It is."

"I think you're strong."

"Thank you."

"By the way, what kinds of things are you trying to protect?"

"Isn't it obvious? If you'd look just a little closer, you'd see."


someday, we'll be


"I'm probably a Gryffindor." Kaito was sitting with his feet up, radiating confidence. "Both my parents were Gryffindors. I'm definitely a Gryffindor."

"Yes, but all four of your grandparents were Slytherins," Mikuo reminded him, adjusting his glasses. "I keep telling you, what your family got doesn't tell you anything about what you'll get."

"Nahh, it's a pretty good indication, I think," Len said. "Both my parents were Gryffindors, too."

Mikuo sighed. "Why does everyone romanticize Gryffindor so much? It's not special or anything. Just because it was the house Harry Potter was in—"

"Says the Ravenclaw," Kaito sniggered.

"And I probably am a Ravenclaw. And I'm perfectly fine with that. You two need to get over yourselves. I bet you'll end up in Hufflepuff."

Kaito laughed loudly. "Nah man, nah."

The conversation died away naturally, and the three boys fell into a comfortable silence.

"Where's Fukase?" Kaito piped up. He was referring to Satoru Fukase, the fourth member of their close-knit group.

Mikuo looked around the compartment, eyes widening. "Oh, wait, he's not here?"

Len straightened. "We've been here," he checked his watch, "an hour and a half, and we never realized we lost Fukase?"

The three boys burst into laughter.

"He's probably pissing himself right now," Mikuo said between snickers. "A first-year all alone on the train… He's probably hiding in the bathroom."

"I'll go look for him." Len stood up, still grinning at the hilarity of the situation. "Get some for me and him if the food cart comes around."

"Will do." Mikuo gave him a salute.

It turns out Fukase wasn't in the bathroom. Perhaps he was wandering the corridors, or maybe some sympathetic third-years took him in? Well, whatever. Len would find him, and find him good.

He went around, glancing through the windows of each compartment as he passed. When the curtains were closed, he'd knock on the door. Nope, nope, nope. No dice. Focused in his task, he didn't notice someone walking towards him—he bumped into them.

"Oops, my bad." He noticed it was the same girl from before. Rin Amano.

"It's okay," she said, and walked past him. Len watched her back for a second, and then, for some reason, hastened to follow her.

"Hey, it's me again," he said, catching up and falling into her pace. "Remember, from this morning?"

She looked into his face. "I remember."

She didn't speak much, did she? Not realizing he was supposed to be looking for Fukase, Len prodded her again.

"Are you muggleborn? It's just I've never heard your name before." He would have heard of the Amano family, had they been wizards.

"Yes."

"That explains it. So this must all be new to you, huh?"

"Yes."

"But you're happy you get to learn magic, right?"

"Not really."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Magic is strange."

She was strange. Normally, muggleborns were ecstatic to learn they had this special, latent ability graced to so few!

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen it before in my life. Magic."

So she was scared. "That makes sense." Len supposed he understood where she was coming from. When she'd received her Hogwarts letter, she was dropped into a whole different world. "Well, I'm sure you'll be a great witch."

She inclined her head so slightly, it may or may not have been a nod.

"Say, where are you going? Where's your compartment?"

She shrugged.

"Oh, do you not have a compartment?" It was normal that she hadn't made any friends yet, being muggleborn and kind of shy. "Wanna come sit with me and my friends then?"

"Why?"

Len raised a brow, smiling hesitantly. "...So you don't have to wander the aisles like a weirdo?"

She gave him a long, intense stare. "Fine."

When they arrived back at the compartment, Mikuo quickly and discreetly released Kaito from a headlock.

"Who's that?" Kaito asked, indiscreetly pointing at Rin.

"Where's Fukase?" Mikuo asked.

Len slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, damn. I'll go find him." He nudged Rin inside the compartment. "Sit down."

Silently, she sat opposite Mikuo. Len hurried down the aisle.

It turned out Fukase was sitting with Miku, Mikuo's older sister, and her second-year friends. She was probably the only other person on the train who Fukase could sit with comfortably. When Len came, she wrapped both he and Fukase into an enthusiastic hug and expressed her hopes that both of them would be in Hufflepuff with her.

The compartment now held the group of boys, reunited, plus Rin, plus food. They were all feasting on chocolate frogs and Every Flavour Beans, minus Rin, who'd refused the offer. Len supposed she was loath to eat "strange" magic food.

"Are you sure?" he'd asked.

"I'm sure."

"You'll be seeing these foods for the next seven years of your life, you know. You'd best get used to it."

"No thanks."

It worked out better that way, since Mikuo and Kaito had only bought enough for four (rather, enough for four to pig out—there would've been enough for Rin if they didn't all have the appetites of eleven-year old boys).

They continued their banter. Rin stayed in the corner reading—Len assumed she wanted to find out more about their world, from books. After a few failed attempts of bringing her into their conversation, they left her to her own devices.

Before they knew it, it had gotten dark outside.

"We're almost there," Mikuo observed.

"Ah yeah, we'd better change," Kaito said, stretching. He fished his robes out of his bag. Len turned to Rin with a sudden realization.

"Oh, yeah, Amano." The other boys froze upon reminder that there was a girl in their compartment. Len continued, "Before we reach school, we have to change into our school robes. You have them, right?"

"Yes."

"Good." He thought for a moment. "There'll probably be a line, but could you go to the bathrooms to change?"

She looked genuinely confused. "Why?"

Len was incredulous. What kind of idiot was so atmospherically illiterate? He could only wonder what kind of upbringing she'd had. How horrible her life must have been. She was like a failure of a person. He almost pitied her.

Mikuo took over. "We're all guys in here, so you'd best not stick around while we change."

She didn't seem to understand, even then, but she nodded and picked up her things. "Okay."

The door slid shut behind her.

"She's a strange one, huh?" Mikuo said, pulling off his shirt.

"She reminds me of this cousin of mine…" Fukase began.

"Everyone reminds you of one of your cousins," Len countered. Fukase had a lot of cousins.

"Why'd you bring her here anyway, Len? Who is she?" Kaito asked.

"I dunno, I just saw her walking alone in the aisles and felt sorry for her, I guess."

"Oh gosh, yeah, I felt bad for her too," Mikuo said. "I could just feel it. That she's on her way to becoming a loner."

"Some people are like that." Len shrugged. "That's the way the world works."

Rin didn't come back to the compartment.


The next time Len saw Rin was at the sorting ceremony. Her last name starting with A, she was one of the first to be sorted. She sat on the stool for a relatively long while before the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" much to Len's surprise—she'd looked like a definite Ravenclaw to him.

Fukase was sorted into Ravenclaw, which also surprised Len. He'd been betting on Hufflepuff for his auburn-haired friend.

Mikuo was also Ravenclaw, which was no surprise. Shame they wouldn't be going into Gryffindor together, but at least Mikuo was fine with the result.

After what felt like ages, it was Len's turn to be sorted. The hat felt surprisingly large on his head, the brim covering his eyes so all he could focus on was the hat's muttering voice echoing and bouncing off the walls in his head. It was a high-pitched, scratchy voice, but it had a sort of booming bass quality to it.

"Gryffindor, huh? That's a popular request, you know."

"I know. But I want to be in Gryffindor."

"You do, huh? Hmm, I see a bit of that in you. But really, I do see you as a bit of a Ravenclaw. Your friends are in Ravenclaw, aren't they? Don't you want to be with them?"

"I do, but I honestly don't see myself as a Ravenclaw."

"Oh really?" The hat asked. It put a strange accent on the words, like "orillayyy?"

"Really."

"Then, you see yourself as a Gryffindor?"

Len imagined himself in the Gryffindor common room, wearing the red-and-gold scarf, the red-and-gold Quidditch robes. "Yes."

"You're not thinking about my question," the Hat said, tutting. "Let me rephrase that. Do you think you're brave?"

"...Yes?"

"You're not thinking about it enough! Think before you answer, boy! I want you to think about it well!"

Why was the hat refuting him? He wanted to be in Gryffindor, so shouldn't the damn thing just put him in Gryffindor? It put Harry Potter in Gryffindor at his request, for Merlin's sake!

"I don't take requests indiscriminately." The Hat interrupted Len's thoughts. "The Potter boy thought I put him in Gryffindor because of his request, but that's only because I saw his bravery and thought him fit to be in that house. You, on the other hand… I will ask you again. Do you think you're brave?"

"...Ye—"

"THINK ABOUT IT!"

So he thought about it. Bravery, what was bravery? Being strong in the face of adversary… He thought back to when he'd killed a spider when his mom was screaming at the top of her lungs. The time he saved a neighbourhood cat from the ugly, angry neighbourhood dog. What else was there?

"What do you fear?"

Oh, jeez. Now he understood why some people took forever to be sorted. The Hat just loved to give people a hard time.

"I… what?"

The Hat sighed. "Boy, let me be frank with you. You are not brave enough to be a Gryffindor."

Len's heart leapt into a run after hearing that—it was like an insult.

"You're too fearful. You fear failure. You fear not being the best. You fear not being loved. You let your fear control you. You run away. You don't face what you need to acknowledge. Not that I expect you to understand anything I just said, so I'll just sort you now. SLYTHERIN!"

The hat was removed from his eyes, and he could see his surroundings once more. Shell-shocked, he noticed out of the corner of his mind that the Slytherin table was clapping for him, and that he should probably get off the stool and go over there. He had to hurry up, or the teacher would start yelling at him...

He hastily got up and went to the Slytherin table, smiling apologetically at his friends at the other tables. But inside, he felt like doing anything but smiling. He was a bit angry, but mostly confused. What… just what the heck just happened?!

He needed a nap.

"Congrats, Kagamine, welcome," a third-year Slytherin said as Len joined the table.

"Yeah, thanks, Yuuma."

"I didn't expect that at all, but hey," Yuuma shrugged. "I'm glad you're here."

"Y-Yeah, it was unexpected for me too." That was the biggest understatement he'd uttered since the last time his mom asked him how much of the ice cream he'd eaten… Which was two weeks ago. He'd inhaled the whole bucket because he was upset that Mikuo had beaten him in a game of one-on-one Quidditch. Anyway.

As he watched the next sortings, he supposed he didn't really mind being in Slytherin. Great people came out of Slytherin, and the idea that Slytherins were "evil" had died along with Voldemort a hundred years ago. It was more what the Hat had said that bugged him.

He wasn't brave? He feared failure and not being loved? He let his fear control him? What utter garbage! Did that hat think that just a few seconds in his head was enough to know him better than he knew himself?! Len was plenty brave. Sure, he didn't like failure and of course he wanted to be loved. But it wasn't like he was constantly fretting "ooooh no, I'm gonna fail," or, "ooohh noooo, no one loves me sadface." No!

But there was a tiny voice in the crevices of his mind that knew the Hat was known for its accuracy. Maybe it was Len who was wrong.

Yeah, no. Maybe the Hat's spell was wearing off after thousands of years. Could hats grow senile?

Kaito was sorted into Gryffindor. Len couldn't muster enough energy to feel jealous—he didn't have the slightest inclination to feel jealous. It was so strange. He just felt a little empty… Just… bad. He felt bad.

Then. No, he thought. He couldn't get himself down over what the stupid hat said. It was a freaking hat. It didn't know anything. He would get over what the Hat said and not worry about it. That was strength. That was bravery.

He decided he would prove to that hat that his name was Len Kagamine, and that Hats were just hats.


"Ah, I think I understand now. What it is you're trying so hard to protect."

"Yes."

"It's yourself."

"It's human nature to want to protect the weak, right? Like how parents fight for their children."

"And you, you're still a child, yourself."

"Exactly."

"You're so fragile. You need to be taken care of."

"I do."

"I'll take care of you."

"And I'll take care of you."

"You're not as strong as you think you are."

"No. And you aren't either. But someday, we will be."


a/n: a bit dry this chapter, but i mean it's all setup I guess. it's in first year now, but I'll be skipping big chunks of time and i think the majority of this will be like fourth-fifth-sixth year maybe idk

Satoru Fukase is Satoshi Fukase, but I didn't wanna use the real name because I've felt weird about naming characters after real people ever since I met Asami Shimoda and then saw someone name Rin Rin Shimoda

it just felt weirdddd iunno

the floating conversation-y bits are kinda like, if you've watched evangelion, just imagine it akin to eps 25 & 26 lol. also anyone catch my alignment of Len to Asuka huh huh nobody huh

please review! with honesty! praise and concrit and blatant hate and everything is welcome :) esp concrit PLEASE HELP ME IMPROVE PLEASE *neon signs that say HELP ME IMPROVE I (WON'T) PAY YOU*